Background The aim of this study was to compare the safety and effectiveness of ceftazidime-avibactam (CAZ-AVI) to colistin-based regimen in the treatment of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). Methods This was a retrospective, multicenter, observational cohort study of inpatients who received either CAZ-AVI or intravenous colistin for treatment of infections due to CRE. The study was conducted in 5 tertiary care hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Main study outcomes included in-hospital mortality, clinical cure at end of treatment, and acute kidney injury (AKI). Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression model were conducted to assess the independent impact of CAZ-AVI on the clinical outcome. Results A total of 230 patients were included in this study: 149 patients received CAZ-AVI and 81 patients received colistin-based regimen. Clinical cure (71% vs 52%; P = 0.004; OR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.31–4.01) was significantly more common in patients who received CAZ-AVI. After adjusting the difference between the two groups, treatment with CAZ-AVI is independently associated with clinical cure (adjusted OR, 2.75; 95% CI, 1.28–5.91). In-hospital mortality (35% vs 44%; P = 0.156; OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.39–1.16) was lower in patients who received CAZ-AVI but the difference was not significant. AKI (15% vs 33%; P = 0.002; OR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.19–0.69) was significantly less common in patients who received CAZ-AVI. Conclusion CAZ-AVI is associated with higher rate of clinical cure and lower rate of AKI compared to colistin. Our findings support the preferential use of CAZ-AVI over colistin-based regimen for treating these infections.

Background: It is observed that the adverse drug reactions are one of the many reasons contributing in the deterioration of health and wellbeing. Objectives: This study was carried out to list the numerous elements affecting the knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians towards pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reactions. Material and methods: A certain prepared questionnaire is performed over numerous pharmacies from the areas around in addition to the data collected from similar researches which performed the same method. Results: Based upon the findings of our study, we came to a vision of the superiority of pharmacists over pharmacy technicians when it comes to acknowledging how to deal with pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reactions. Conclusion: Pharmacists are more knowledgeable when it comes to ADRs than pharmacy technicians, yet both of them needs to go under training for enhancing their knowledge.

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Aim: This study compares factors associated with requests for antimicrobial agents versus those for other types of treatment, contrasting the requests of pharmacists versus those of other health-care staff related to antimicrobial agents. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted for all requests received from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2018. A series of chi-squared tests was used to analyze the relationship between different categories. All data analyses were conducted using the R statistical computing language. Results: In total, 2,423 requests were received from 2015 to 2018, of which antimicrobial agents accounted for 21.67%. The highest percentages of antimicrobial requests by pharmacists were related to administration and dosage forms, pregnancy and lactation, and stability. A majority of the requests were answered using tertiary resources. The most-requested information regarding antimicrobial agents was related to clindamycin. Conclusion: Because many requests pertaining to antimicrobial agents were made, as a proportion of total drug and poison information centre requests, from 2015 to 2018, pharmacists should maintain and indeed expand their active role to combat antibiotic resistance.

Purpose: To analyze drug information queries related to treatment with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), chloroquine (CQ), and azithromycin submitted to a local drug and poison information center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This retrospective study explored HCQ-, CQ-, and azithromycin-related inquiries submitted to the Drug and Poison Information Center at the Security Forces Hospital Program, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. These inquiries were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative analysis included the frequency of each request per year, the profession of the requesters, and the source material classification. A thematic analysis was also performed to categorize requests from healthcare professionals. Results: The Drug and Poison Information Center received 10,685 usable inquiries between 2005 and 2018. There were 160 CQ-, HCQ-, and azithromycin-related queries. Most requests were made by pharmacists (61.25 %). The main sources used to answer the queries were tertiary (92.31 %) and primary (7.69 %) sources. In the dataset, three major topics were identified: administration and dosing, safety, and pregnancy and lactation, each associated with a query subset. Conclusion: These results emphasize the importance of continued education on antimicrobial agents in general, and HCQ, CQ, and azithromycin in particular. The three items have been identified as focus areas that policymakers can us to ensure the quality of future medication prescriptions.